(March 29, 1930)1

This order is to be followed. Given that the Red Army is an instrument of
struggle of the workers' and peasants' revolution, at this time when reactionary
political power is collapsing and the revolutionary tide is rising higher every day,
more loyal and brave workers and peasants should naturally be recruited to
expand the Red Army, in order to crush the reactionary forces and attain final
victory. It has recently been found, however, that in obtaining new recruits, the
various units intend only to recruit youngsters to run errands, and to add some
porters arbitrarily, but pay scant attention to strengthening their fighting forces.
Some units have even enlisted men whose five senses are defective, hunchbacks
and cripples, and men who suffer from tuberculosis, venereal diseases, appendicitis, bleeding hemorrhoids, and other afflictions, not realizing that those whose
senses are defective, or who are hunchbacks and cripples, not only affect the
impression given by the Red Army but are not at all qualified to be soldiers. The
reason is that those with eye ailments are unable to aim and shoot; those who are
deaf are unable to distinguish orders; those with a collapsed nose mostly have
hereditary syphilis and are susceptible to contagious diseases [in general]; those
who stutter are unable to carry out the communication tasks of a soldier; as for
those with ailments such as tuberculosis, venereal disease, appendicitis, and
bleeding hemorrhoids, not only does their weak physical condition make them
unable to fight in the army, but there is also the danger of spreading their
diseases to others. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned adverse effects, this commander² orders that attention be paid to the following when new
soldiers are recruited and when they join the ranks: (1) Qualification for new
recruits: must be over sixteen and under thirty years of age; height of at least 4
chi 2 cun (tailor's measure);3 must be in good health, with no serious diseases

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 148-49, where it is taken
from the 1942 documentary collection cited in the note to the document dated March 19,
1930.
1. This is order No. 6 of the Fourth Red Army Headquarters.
2. Ben zhang, i.e., Zhu De, who signs first as junzhang, or commander of the army.
3. The standard chi, or Chinese foot, at this time, made up of 10 cun, or Chinese
inches, was equal to 14.1 English inches or 0.3581 meters. The minimum height stipulated
here thus corresponds to 1.5 meters, or slightly less than five feet.